Improvement in chain-mak



E. WEISSENBORN.

Machine for Manufacture of Chains. No. 13,929. Patented Dep. 11,1855.

' 3 SheetsSheet 2; E. WEISSENBORN;

7 Machine for Manufacture of Chains.

. No. 13,929. I V Patented Dec. 11,1855.

3 SheetsSheet 3.

vE. WEISSENBORN.

Machine for Manufacture of Chains.

No. 13,929. Patented Dec. 11, I855.

FFEE.

ATENT EDUARD XVEISSENBORN, OF NEW YORK, N. Y.

IMPROVEMENT IN CHAlN-MAKlN-Q MACHINES.

Specification forming part ofLetters Patent No. 13,5929, dated December 11, 1855.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, EDUARD WEIssnNBoRN, of the city, county, and State of New York, have invented a new and useful Machine for the Manufacture of Chain; and I do hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exact description of the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, forming part of this specification, in which Figure 1 is a side elevation of the machine. Fig. 2 is a plan of the same. Fig. 3 is a vertical transverse section in the line A B of Fig. 1. Fig. 4 is a vertical transverse section in the line C D of-Fig. 1'. V Fig. 5 is a vertical transverse section in the line E F of Figs. 1 and 2. Fig. 6 is a plan of. a. portion of the machine, which is partly concealed in Fig. 2. Fig. 7 illustrates the manner of forging the rings from which the links of the chain are produced. Fig.8 exhibits the form which the ring first receives in being converted into a link. Fig. 9 is a side view showing two links -bent together, but not closed. Fig. 10 is a 'side view at right angles to Fig. 9, showing the links closed to formaportion of the chain. Fig. 11 is a perspective view of a short piece of the chain complete.

Similar letters of reference indicate corresponding parts in the several figures.

The chain which this machine is intended "to manufacture is not of the kind in.most

common use, but is what may be termed double-1ink chain, as it is composed not of pairs of links, butstrictly of double links, which are each formed entirely of one pieceof metal. This description of chain as produced by this machine is very far superior in strength to the single-link chain in common use. v

The working parts of the machine are all carried by a strong bed of cast-iron G G. At

that end of this bed which is shown to the right of the spectator in Figs. 1 and 2 there is certain mechanism 'byiwhi'ch the rings of which the links are to be made are formed read for welding; but as this mechanism cons itutes no part of the present invention,

, and is intended to be subject of other Letters by the machine. To form the links I take thin fiat iron rod and coil it up. as shown in Fig. 7, to form a ring of the necessary thickness, after which I weld it up solid. Those parts of the machine included in the present invention perform the whole of the 1nanufac-- ture of the chain from the welding of the links formed as above described.

The first part of the machine to be described is that by which the welding of the rings is performed, which is shown heart-he middle of Figs. 1 and 2 and partly in Figs. .3 and 4. In thesefigures, K K is a fixed head-stock containing the bearings for tworollers L L, which have each a round-bottomed spiral groove in its periphery, both grooves having the same pitch, but that in the lower roller running spirally in one direction and that in the upper roller in the opposite direction. The grooves in the rollers are a little the largest at the right-hand end, and at the lefthand end, when the rollers are close together, the section of the two grooves is a circle of the same size as the finished welded iron ring is desired to have. same speed, but in opposite directions. The ring formed as before described is heated to a welding heat, and in that state is slipped over the left-hand end of the lower roller L, the left-hand bearing 70 of the said roller being moved away and the upper roller L being raised up for that purpose, and is moved up to the right-hand end of the roller and hung in its groove, after which the bearing k,

of the said roller is replaced and the upper roller L brought down close to it, the ring being then grasped firmly between the two roll= ers, by whose rotary motion. itis caused to revolve between them and travel along toward the left-hand ends, and by that means, being gradually more and more compressed by the constantly-diminishing size of the grooves, is very perfectly welded and finished with a smooth surface; The bearing 7t moves away again at the approach of the ring to allow the ring to be drawn overthe end of the roller L, and after the ring leaves the grooves of the ro ers the upper roller L is raised to allow another ring to be slipped over.

In order to adjust the two rollers L L so that the parts of their respective grooves which are contiguous to each other will be The rollers rotate at the oblique angle to the axis the box it is circular ie, a third bearing M is provided in addition to the hearings in the head-stock K K. This bearing is fixed; but the shaft of the roller is'provided with avariable journal Z, which is adjustable by a screw Z and nuts Z on the said shaft. The longitudinal position of the roller is regulated by the position of the 'journal I, which has large shoulders, while the other two journals of the roller are made without shoulders, so as to be capable of moving longitudinally in their bearings when necessary.

The rotary motion'of' the rollers L L is derived from right and left handed endless screws m m on an upright shaft M, gearing V exactly opposite each other to form a perfect with worm-wheels 'm* 'm* on the roller-shafts.

The raising of upper roller L, to allow the ring to be slipped over the lower roller up to the righthand end, is performed by two springs 92 n acting upon a yoke N, which is connected by two rods n n with the ends of the shaft of the roller. The rolleris depressed v to its operative position to weld the ring and held down firmly in that position during the whole time it is required to continue in operation by means of two cams n" n" on a shaft P, supported in fixed bearings in the head-stock K, which cams act upon two rollers n "n whose journals rest in the top of the bearings of the upper roller. receives rotary motion at a slow speep, propor] y proportioned to the operation of the rollers L L; through a spur-wheel 0 and through a pinion 0' on a small shaft 0", which receives motion through a worm-wheel 0 from an endless screw m; on the upright shaft M.

The withdrawal and replacement of the movable'bearing ]o of the roller Irare eifected by means of a lever 12 of the first order working on a fixed fulcrum 1) between the sides of the bed. This lever, which is within the bed of the machine, is shown in dotted outline in Fig. 1. Its upper end enters into a slot in a sliding carriage 7a, which carries the bearing, and its lower end carries a pin 11", which enters a groov 'in a cam 12 on a shaft Q, which receives rotary motion through a spur-wheel fast upon it from a smaller spur-wheel g on a shaft Q, which receives motion through a worm-wheel g" from an endless screw n on the upright shaft M. The ring '2', Figs. 1 and 3, is put upon the roller L by a sliding box R, (see Figs. 1, 2, and 3,) into which it is placed, and which is just wide enough to receive the ring in an upright position. This box is so shaped as to hold the ring 1" at an of the rollers and parallel with the direction assumed by the highest part of the groove of the roller L, and it has suitable openings in the front and back sides for the roller L to pass through.

The heated ring, when taken from the fire, is placed in the box R by an attendant, the box being at that time in the position shown in Figs. fl and i3, and when first received in supported by a false bottom,

The shaft P from the box R, and the which rests on a spiral spring 13, audit is kept in place by two fingers s 8, (shown in dots j 'ted outline in Fig. 3,) which are fitted to pivtits 8' 8' within the box and are drawn'toward each other by springs s s", and in'this way the ring is held at the height indicated by dotted lines in Fig. 1, which enables it to pass along, the whole length of the roller L without obstructiombut when the box has arrived at the right-hand end of the rollers the descent of the roller L drives the ring down into the box, causing it to force down the false bottom 12 and force apart the fingers s s. The ring remains in the box during the whole of the welding operation. The box receives its forward movement to place the ring between the rollers through a toothed rack R, attached to it, from a. pinion t on a shaft S, which receives the necessary motion at the proper time to drive forward'the-ring quickly through a pinionv i from a toothed sector t at one end of a lever T of the first order, having a fixed fulcrum u, the action of the sector on the pinion being produced by the fall of the opposite end of the lever under the influenc of a weight T attached thereto. This le er isset free at the proper time for the weight to act upon it by a cam Q on the shaft Q, on a concentric portion of the periphery of which cam the lever has been 'previously'supportcd in a stationary condition long enough to keep the box R stationary while the ring is put in. This cam Q", acting on a roller u, attached to the lever, raises the weighted end of the lever to make the sector reverse the motion of the pinion t,

shaft S, pinion t, and rack R to carry back the box as the welding proceeds. This movement must be properly timed and at a proper speed relatively to the movement of the rollers L L and pitch of their grooves.

The next operation to be performed after .the welding of the ring and before it is allowed to cool is to elongate it in one direction and draw the two long side i together,

which brings it to the shape represented in- Fig. 8, after which it is bent to the formshown in Fig.- 9, in which figure the lower .link is supposed to be seen looking in the same direction' -as Fig. 7, but the upper link is in aposition' at right angles thereto. The part of the machine by which these opera- =tions are performed is shown in Figs. 1 and 2 at the left hand of the welding machinery and also partly in Fig.0. The ring is elon gated by the moving apart of two upright posts a; v, over which it is placed when it is taken forced together by the movement of two sliding dies w to, which are shown in Fig. 6 and"- also shown in Fig. 2 in dotted outlines tinted blue, and, which work at right angles to the posts v 'v'. The posts-'21 v are carried by two slides Z Z, work ngin guides in a double plate U,,secured.to the bed G, and the sliding dies 10 w work in guides in the sai plate. Thepest-s r nand their slides Z Z a -ebest elongated sides are shown in Fig. .6, as in that figure all the parts of the machine which stand above them are omitted.

Before entering minutely into the operation of the above studs and sliding dies it will be better to describe the manner in which the ring is taken from the box R and placed over the posts 1: v. This is effected by a carrier a', consisting'of an elastic steel bar forked atits extremity and attached to an arm as on a rock-shaft 11;", which works in bearings at the top of two standards U U, erected upon a plate U. The rock-shaft x has another arm 3 which carries a weight g, and has suspended from it a rod y", at the lower end of which is a roller y', which rests upon a cam 31" on the shaft Q. This cam, as well as the rod 3 are shown in blue outline in Fig. 1 to prevent confusion with the. other parts of the machine. The rod should be furnished with a yoke at its lower end to fit the shaft and confine the roller 11 to the cam; but this is not shown in the drawings. Just as the ring-bo R draws the welded ring 0d the shaft the cam 'y" raises the rod 'y and the arm yof the rock-shaft a;", depressingthe arm cc and thereby throwing forward the carrier ac. As the fork of the carrier arrives near the ring a stud 00*, which is secured to one side of the elastic bar, comes in contact with the inclined under surface of. a fixed guide-piece :r on one of the standards U and is sprung downward, and thereby directed to the upper part of the ring, which it receives in its fork. The .instant after the fork receives the ring the stud passes the end of the guide-piece 0c" "and springs upward, lifting the ring up out of its box. By this time the most prominent part of the cam 111" passes the roller y, and the weight g falls and-raises the arm w, drawing back the carrier as with the ring. s the carrier goes back its fork passes nearly close to the tops of the posts 1* 12', which are at that time in their nearest positions relatively to each other, and drags the ring in nearly a horizontal position over the plate U until the ring catches against the first post- 1;, andis thereby arrested and caused to be released by the carrier as the latter continues itsretreat, and when released it drops on the plate U with both the posts inside it, as shown in dotted black outline in Fig; 2. At the time the ring is received around the posts 11 v the dies 10 ware at their greatest distance apart,

so that the ring is received between them. The dies w 10 approach each other simultaneously with the moving apart of the posts 1;

iv, and thus give the ring the link form shown in Fig. 8,, which is also shown in' Figs. 2 and- 6, in the former of which figures the posts 0 I condition of just having operated upon the ring to produce the link form, and in the latter figure both the-posts -'v v and diesjw 'w 'v' are shown in strong black outline and the dies w w in dotted outline tinted blue in the are shown-in black outline. Themeason for. representing the dies in dotted outline in Fig.

2 is that they are concealed by a table U, extending across between the standards U U for the support of guides U U for a pair of hooks V V,'by which the bending of the link to the form shown in Fig. 9 is eifected. In Fig. 6 this table and the guides and hooks are omitted. The bend of the link is made round two dies w 20, attached to or forming part of the dies w w, the said dies 20' 11/ standing above the faces of the dies to w and coming close together, as shown in Fig. 6, when the dies 41; to have approached each other near enough to bring the link to the form shown in Fig. 8. These dies w to may be cylindrical, of a size to correspond with the interior of the bend 13* 13*, (see Fig. 9,) which is to be given to the link, or they may be of any other form that will admit of such a bend being given, the lower parts of them of course corresponding to the desired bend. The hooks V, by which the bending of the link is effected, resemble what are sometimes known as grappling-hooks, being in the form of levers pivoted together by a pin 2. This pin is suspended by a link .2 from the arm 2" of a rock-shaft W, and it Works in the vertical fixed guides U U The upper ends of the two hooks are connected together by a light springz', which just serves to keep the hooks open, or, in other Words, to keep their points as far apart as is necessary to receive the link. The hooks descend in an open state, as shown in Fig. 1, before the separating movement of the posts 1; 'v' to elongate the link commences, and-the points of the hooks, which are properly formed to receive the ends of the link within them, enter into a recess in the plate, so as to be below the link. The elongation of the link brings itsends over the points of the hooks, which begin to rise as soon as the elongation of the link is finished. The dies 20 w do not begin to retreatfor some time after they have finished their operation on the .link,.and thus the dies to" w remain closed long enough for the bendingto be effected by the ascent of the hooks V V. It will be understood that as the hooks are pivoted together they will yield readily to the change of form of the link as it bends, the resistance of the link to the bending operation being suifi'cient to draw the points of the hooks toward each other. After the bending of the link has been efiected in this way, the hooks receive a slight downwardmovement, and this taking place before the .dies w 10' have separated?) far enough for the link to descend liberates the hooks from the link and theyimnucdiately open, leaving the link free to fallthrough the opgngpg inthe-plate U between the dies ww,

w enthe latter have separated,- and into conductor, by which it is to be conveyed-to abox 14 at the extremeleftshand end of the machine, where placed the mechanism for closing the-link [together to-form' thechain'; j

' The inannerlfofiefieoting the movements of the posts '2) 'u', the di'es ;ww andw' agatethe 'hooksV V will now be explained, and,

\ right through the bed and derives an inter work on the rock-shaft V as a guide. The

then the explanation of the mechanism for down through a hole 31 and falls on the floor closing will be proceeded with. The dies or into a 'suitable'receptacle. The dies 30 30 'w and w w are moved toward each other and are driven toward the" block to close the link drawnback again atproperintervalsbymeans by means of a horizontal cam 32 acting on of two screws 15, one right and the other two levers 33 3-3, the said cam receiving m0- left handed, which are connectedto them in 'tion through an arm 39 at the bottom of its such a way as not to be capable of turning, vertical shaft 34 from a yoke-rod 35, which is but are moved back and forth by two rotary operated upon byacam 36 on the shaft'Q. This nuts 16 16, whose exteriors are toothed to cam is shown in Figs. 1 and 2 in red outline form spur-wheels, gearing with two larger to distinguish it from the other cams on the spur-wheels 17 17 on a shaft X, which passes same shaft. This rod is made with a slot to mittent rotary motion through a pinion 1S, roller 37 of the cam -yoke 35 is kept in contact behind the front spur-wheel17, from atoothed with the cam by a spring applied to the sector 9, which oscillates on a rock-shaft Y, arm 39 of the shaft 34, which spring serves to the said sector receiving motion by its condraw back the cam to allow the levers 33 33 nection with the cam-yoke 19 of a cam 20 on to come back and the dies 30 30 to open to the shaft Q, the said yoke being slotted to fit admit of the removal of the link from the the shaft Q for the purpose of guiding its block 29. The dies 30 30 are opened or drawn movement and the cam' working between two back by springs within the bed of the ma- -rollers 20* 20* Within the yoke. The posts 2' chine, which are not visible in the drawings. 1) are driven apart to elongate the ring and This machine is not limited inits applicaform the link by means of a double-inclined tion to the manufacture of chain from rings piece or wedge 21 21, secured to the under formed by welding a coil of thin iron rod, as

" side of one of the dies 10 w and acting upon described in the early portion of this specifitwo studs 22 22, secured to the under side of cation, as the rings may be formed in any the slides Z Z, which carry the posts -z- =2 other way; but the above-named.method of The slides ZZ' are brought toward each other formingthe rings will give the chain agreater again that the posts -v 'v' may be in readiness strength than when the rings are formed in to receive the next ring by two springs 23 any other way.

(Shown in red outline in Fig. 6.) The rock- \Vhat I claim as my invention, and desire shaft \V receives the necessary movement to to secure by Letters Patent, 1s 1 operate the hooks V V through a rod 24,0on- 1. The employment, for welding the rings,

necting its arm 25 with one arm of a threeof two rollers grooved spirally in opposite diarmed or T-shaped lever V, which works on rections and operating substantially as herein a fixed fulcrum 26 at theback of the bed. 0f described.

the other two arms of this lever one carries a 2. Arranging one of the end bearin s k of roller 27, which bears against and receives one of the spirally-grooved welding-rollers so the necessary motion to work the rock-shaft 'as to be capableot' sliding lengthwise to the from a cam W, on the shaft Q and the other roller, substantially as described, far enough carries a weight 28, by which the roller is to allow the ring to be slipped over the end kept in contact with the cam. of the roller.

The part of the machine by which the clos- 3. The within-described manner of raising, ing of the links is effected consists of a stadepressing, and confining the upper roller to t-ionary block 29 and two dies 30 30, moving allow the ring to be slipped over the lower horizontally toward and from it. The block roller-to wit, by means of the rods n n, the is secured to the bed of the machin eand is yoke N, the springs 11- n, and the cam-shaft horizontally of the form of the o F n part P, with its cams 'n" n, the whole being a'rwhichthe link is to have when the 'endsare ranged and operating substantially as herein r closed, and the 'contlguous faces of the dies 30 set forth. 30 are of the same form as the sides of the link 4 The traveling box R; operating, substanareto have externally when closed. The link tivady as described, to carry the rings quickly as it leaves thehooks'V V is taken with a pair 0 er the end of and up to the back end of the 'of tongs from the box 14 by an attendant staweldingroller L and to come back with the tioned in readiness, and if it is the first ring ring at a speed properly corresponding with of a chain it is put directly over the block 29, the velocity of the rollers and pitch of their represented by l". in Figs. 1 and 2;) but if it spiral grooves. is not the first ring it is put just half-way 5. The carrier .1', operating, substantially as through the last closed ring before being put described, first, vto move forward to receive on the block. It is put entire block at time the ring in its fork, then moving quickly upwhen'thedies are drawn away from them; ,wa'rd to snatch the ring from the box, and and the d'es 'dircctlyafter approach thebloclg afserward dragging the ring along the plate and close ;the link. The block 29 is made with which contains the elongating mechanism till a recess 40 (see Fig. 2) to receive-part of the it comes in contact with one of the elongatingpreviously-closed link '7". Every link, al'ier posts or its equivalent, and is thereby taken being closed, is secured by its successor pa sfrom the [forkofthc carrier-I ing througli it. The finished chain passes (L-"lhecombination of the movable posts 12/0 and 'side dies w 10, operating, substantially as described, to elongate the ring, and at the same time close or drive toward each other the elongating sides.

7. The arrangement of the dies 20 10', round which the link is bent or doubled, substantially as described relatively to the dies 10 w, by which the elongated sides ofthe link are forced toward each other, and their attachment to the same, whereby when the link has received the form shown in Fig. 8 it is caused to be in readiness to be bent or doubled by the action of the hooks V V or their equivalent.

S. Operating the posts 1; r, by which the elongation of the ring is performed, by means of a wedge or double-inclined piece 21, attached to one of the side dies to, acting upon studs attached to the slides which carry the said posts, whereby the approach of the side dies toward each other and retreat of the posts from each other are effected simultaneously.

9. The suspension ofthe bending-hooks at their pivot z and application of a spring to draw their points apart, substantially as herein described, so that the said hooks will descend in an open state and will be in condition to receive the link when the latter is sufficiently elongated but that in ascending and drawing up the ends of the link they will gradually close as required by the changing form of the link.

EDUARD wEIssENBoRN.

\Vitnesses:

JAs. GEO. MAsoN, WILLIAM TUsoH. 

